


The Yokai Student Exchange Program

by Inrainbowz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Set in Kyoto, Tengu Sasuke, Yokai AU, and related Uchiha, and related Uzumaki, kitsune naruto, the Yokai Student Exchange AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25822642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inrainbowz/pseuds/Inrainbowz
Summary: The kitsune of Kyoto don’t live in their temples anymore, nor in the forests neighboring the city. They live right in the heart of it, among the humans, and it is something the tengu of the Uchiha clan will have to do too. It is unfathomable now, but after all, some of their kind even managed to settle into busy Tokyo herself, tall buildings for trees and running electrical cables for the foliage mapping the sky.They all have to adapt.A Naruto japanese folklore/modern fantasy AU featuring tengu Sasuke, kitsune Naruto, and a whole bunch of yokai, spirits, ghosts, and Kyoto sightseeing.
Relationships: Karin & Uchiha Sasuke, Karin & Uzumaki Kushina, Karin & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Kushina & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 46
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to post this on Ao3 to get some more traffic, but this is a tumblr original. I post updates every few days for now, masterpost is [here](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623440734528421888/yokai-student-exchange-masterpost). I'll post here every 8-10 updates I think.
> 
> This was kicked off by [this drawing](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/622862473505161216/inraindrawz-its-sasuke-isnt-it-my-mom-told) for the [naruto fantasy week](https://naruto-fantasy-week.tumblr.com/) and kept growing from there. I won't add the footnotes here but I'll link the tumblr post where I give some explanations about some of the yokai stuff. 
> 
> Well, I think that's it. Enjoy!

[ **1.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623013709745356800/1)

“Don’t sulk, Sasuke!”

“I’m not sulking!”

He winces at his own tone, fails to erase an angry pout from his face. Shisui grins.

Fine. He _is_ sulking.

“Are you ready?” his mother asks gently. She retrieved their strongest _ha uchiwa_ from the temple, resting innocuously in her hands for now. Sasuke eyes it warily, as if it’s going to send him away to Kyoto any moment.

“It’s only for a few months,” she says again, trying to be reassuring. It only serves to make him feel worse because he knows he shouldn’t be so reluctant, shouldn’t be _sulking_. Things are as they are and he needs to go.

But in the few decades since he came into being Sasuke has never left their mountain. Most of the clan haven’t either, and that’s sort of why he has to now. They have been too removed, too uninvolved in human affairs. Ignoring them has worked, for a time, but the humans seek to possess everything their eyes fall upon, and the Uchiha’s mountain is not particularly hidden. The forest is shrinking already, people climbing higher and higher each year. It used to be too cold and hostile for them, but the cold is receding too now, and they have learned to carve their way through the wildest grounds.

They don’t realize the reason why the mountain is so healthy and thriving, why they’re so drawn to it and why it feels so blessed, is precisely thanks to the spirits they are forcing out. No one among the clan wants to say it aloud, but they all know, deep down, that they may have to move soon. When the humans are well established in what seems like a haven now, it will mysteriously lose its charm and blessings, and they will be none the wiser, because humans are incapable of perceiving the consequences of their own actions.

Sasuke doesn’t hate them, doesn’t know enough about them and hasn’t spent enough time in their company to warrant such a strong emotion, but he wishes they weren’t so blind.

So that he wouldn’t have to leave.

He is the youngest of their clan, the most open to learning. He is the one who has to go and see, to learn what he can. Because if they do end up leaving the mountain, finding another one will just delay the inevitable. Eventually, they will have to do like most _yokai_ – either retreat to the spiritual world and leave behind their duty to this earth and its gods… or mingle with the humans and settle into the city.

Sasuke shudders at the thought.

"Someone will come to fetch you at the temple. They’re expecting you. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried.”

Another lie, but can he be blamed? His mother assured him this Kushina was one of her dearest friends, but Sasuke never met her before, nor any fox spirit, so they couldn’t be that close.

Sasuke debates sliding his mask on his face, just so that he could feel a little more shielded, but it would be rude to hide from his hosts, right? He wonders what they look like, is curious despite his apprehension, to meet them and to see how they live.

The _kitsune_ of Kyoto don’t live in their temples anymore, nor in the forests neighboring the city. They live right in the heart of it, among the humans, and it is something the _tengu_ of the Uchiha clan will have to do too. It is unfathomable now, but after all, some of their kind even managed to settle into busy Tokyo herself, tall buildings for trees and running electrical cables for the foliage mapping the sky.

They all have to adapt.

Itachi steps in to adjust the _tokin_ on his head and Sasuke has to fight the urge to lean into his embrace. They considered sending both of them to Kyoto, but they feared they would keep too much to themselves, and Itachi has his own duties to attend here. Alone, Sasuke will have no choice but to interact with others… It is telling that they didn’t trust he would if his brother was around. He has met a few _yokai_ from outside their mountain over the decades, visiting friends and passing spirits, but it will be the first time he is among strangers, away from the clan.

His mother raises her feathered fan, already stirring a light breeze even when she doesn’t whisper her will into it. His father is praying at the temple for the winds to be favorable, to carry him where he needs to go. He bid his younger son a stilted farewell the day before, neither of them comfortable with the emotions rising at the thought of their separation.

Sasuke turns his back to his mother, his brother and his cousin, to his home and family, already swaying in the current.

“Travel well, Sasuke,” his mother wills, before swinging the _ha uchiwa_ with all the force of their blessings.

The wind takes him away.

[ **2.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623171122815500288/2)

Sasuke lands with a soft hush in front of the Honen-in temple. He had to put shoes on, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant to bounce on the ground, so he takes to hovering again. His cloaking is decent enough that the humans won’t notice. It doesn’t matter anyway – there is no one there.

The wind dies down. Sasuke is alone.

They chose a secluded temple – or secluded enough, compared to the bigger and more crowded ones – but still, this is closer to any big city than Sasuke has ever been. Even if he can only see trees and bushes, even if he can only hear birds and the soft trickling of a water source nearby, he still knows, still _feels_ that this place has nothing to do with his mountain. The human-made currents easily overpower the natural ones here. The electricity, the communication lines, all those signals they send each other, are much stronger than the trees’ conversation and the wind bustling around the leaves.

Sasuke shakes his head – it wouldn’t do to get homesick already. He hopes someone will be here soon. He needs the distraction.

A few minutes pass, enough for him to start worrying that they didn’t get the time or the location right, to tie and untie the chords of his hoodie into good luck knots several times. Until there is a rustle in the leaves, until the chill in the air is gone and…

“Hi!”

The fox is young. He looks like a teenager, like Sasuke does. They don’t assume an adult form unless they are over a century old – or so it goes for tengu anyway. What about kitsune? Sasuke should have studied more.

“It’s Sasuke, isn’t it? Sorry I’m late, the bus ran into traffic. I should have brought some luck but we’ve been saving it to get good weather for the Inari-sai… It’s Sasuke, isn’t it? My mom sent me to welcome you! Did you wait long?”

His hair is blond, sticking up in all directions, catching the sun in fiery reflections. Sasuke can see his ears and tails flicker in and out at the corner of his eyes. He counts four tails – only one tail over being able to assume human form, though there is no telling how long ago that was.

His clothes are a bit… Sasuke can only say gaudy. There is a huge, colorful depiction of a _cintamani_ , a wish fulfilling-jewel, printed on his yellow t-shirt. He is also wearing a ratty pair of cargo shorts and equally ratty sneakers, also of many colors, though not the ones of the shirt.

Sasuke wonders how well he blends in among the humans, before admonishing himself for his rudeness. The boy is more experienced than he is in this – if this is how he dresses, then surely it is not an issue.

He also sports a huge smile, stretching high on his cheeks and full of pointy teeth. It would feel a bit threatening if the fox didn’t look so genuinely happy to be here. His whiskers are etched into his cheeks, even in his human form.

His voice is high and changing, like a song. Oh. He is talking.

“…really sorry! I’ll make it up to you, please don’t tell my mom, she’ll get mad at me. She told me to leave in advance, but Kiba came by with a _jinmenken_ and his face looked _just_ like our old school teacher and…”

“I didn’t wait long.”

Sasuke half expects the boy to miss it entirely, but he shuts his mouth and beams again, relieved.

“Cool! Let’s go then. My mom is waiting for us, but later I’ll show you around! It’s your first time in Kyoto right? Is it okay if we take the bus? I’ll buy you a ticket. Usually I take my bike but well… Oh! We should get you one!”

They start to move down the stone path and Sasuke has a hard time keeping track of what the boy is babbling out. He talks fast, with an accent Sasuke has never heard and some words he doesn’t recognize – he can’t say if it’s because they are local idioms or just refer to human things he doesn’t know.

The bus, he knows, and he can’t say he looks forward to it. At least the boy seems content to do all the talking, so Sasuke follows him in silence.

They pass a blooming _jinmenju_ , its hanging face-shaped fruits laughing softly at them, but otherwise the forest seems scarce of spiritual presence. He wonders if they hide well or if they have just deserted this spot – the path gets busier as they go down, growing loud with footsteps and conversations.

They will go through the grounds of the Ginkaku-ji temple, the boy explains, one of the most visited in Kyoto, especially during spring.

Sasuke has never seen so many humans at the same time.

The widest groups to go up his mountain would be just enough to fill one of those dreaded buses. As they near the temple’s entrance, they cross paths with dozens of people of all ages. There are even foreigners, with their light skin and hair, saddled with heavy backpacks, clutching at maps and opening round eyes all around them. He shifts uncomfortably under the few gazes that land on him.

It is an odd relief to spot the _otoroshi_ perched on the main gate to the temple, its long hair dangling over the edge of the rooftop as it peers at the passerby. In broad daylight and with so many people, it won’t punish any of their missteps, though Sasuke imagines they are numerous.

“It enforces temple rules,” the boy comments. He points at a sign, on the side of the gate. No picking flowers and other vegetation, no feeding the koi and birds, no littering, no shouting…

“Are those sacred?” Sasuke can’t help but ask. Otoroshi protect the sanctity of the temples and give a good scare to those who disrespect it. But few of these people come here to worship.

“Sacred enough to them,” the boy shrugs. He waves at the otoroshi, earning a widening of its toothless grin.

“The one living in my mountain was very different,” Sasuke adds, thinking about the abandoned shrine laying below their own temple. Its residents had long deserted it, leaving the otoroshi to guard it against intruders. They would hear the loud “thump” of the yokai falling from the _torii_ gate at odd hours of the night, signifying it had to scare away yet another wandering human. It was more and more frequent lately.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re from the Hira mountains, right? Were there many spirits living up there with you? I guess the ones from the city are quite different…”

“Have you never been to a more…”

He doesn’t find the word. A more worthy place? More pleasant? Fortunately, the boy doesn’t seem to catch on his hesitation. He barrels in – he seems good at it.

“Nah, never left Kyoto much. We hike up around here all the time but I guess it’s not the same.”

Sasuke finds it sad. But then again, he has never set foot out of his mountain himself, and maybe the boy would find that sad too. 

It occurs to him them, that he’s been calling him “the boy” and “the fox” in his head. That he didn’t get his name.

[ **3.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623439436292718592/3)

He doesn’t dare ask.

Surely if the boy wanted to share his name, he would have by now. Names aren’t as precious to yokai as they are to the humans who run into them, but it may be a local custom Sasuke is unaware of. It’s too late to ask anyway, he will look like a fool. He’s bond to catch it sooner or later.

“The No. 5 bus will take us directly to the train station. Our _ryokan_ is nearby.”

“You don’t live in a temple?”

“Hm-hm. We have our shrine of course, but my mother says temples are no fun.”

The boy scratches at the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

“Is that weird? Are we weird? Some say we are. A lot of people pass through the ryokan, a lot of spirits too, and they are all different, and some say we are weird and some don’t. I guess you can always be weird to someone…”

“It’s not… It’s just surprising, that’s all. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

The fox smiles, relieved, but he frowns again then.

“You don’t have to be so formal y’know. I’m pretty sure you rank higher than me!”

Yet he has been perfectly casual all this time. Sasuke supposes he doesn’t have to be formal indeed, but he doesn’t see what else he could be. He is a guest among strangers and he represents his clan – how can he not be formal?

“Hey, Sasuke, hum… I’m sorry to ask but I think you should… walk.”

It’s Sasuke’s turn to frown, mildly offended.

“Why?”

“People are staring.”

There are more and more humans waiting at the bus stop with them, and he does spot a few puzzled gazes thrown in his direction. He wouldn’t put it above being about his guide’s weird clothes – he can now confirm that he is _not_ , in fact, blending in.

“They can’t see it.”

“Not really. But also, they can. I don’t know why we always say people are less observant in the city, they look at others all the time, it’s what they do. They can tell there is something weird going on. You’re cloaking is not so good.”

The boy shakes his hands, pacifying, when he spots Sasuke’s heated glare.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! But we have to do it differently here, among so many people. I can teach you how to hide from them later, if you want… or you can always shield completely! It’s fine with me. But then I won’t be able to talk to you, or they’ll think I’m crazy…”

Sasuke is very, very tempted. It would make it easier to just vanish from the human eyes, retreat in their own plan where they don’t have to worry about being seen. But that would also be very rude, and so he nods, and slowly lowers himself to the ground.

Flying isn’t as easy here as it is at home, without his parents’ blessing. But it’s still a lot better than this. Sasuke gets rid of his weight whenever he can, never liked to feel its burden. He has to bear it now – he doesn’t know how the humans do it all day long. It feels like he’s going to topple forward, and it tires him just to think of putting one foot in front of the other and do all the walking.

Human form sucks.

“Your laces are untied! You’re gonna trip.”

Yeah, he never ties them, because he _doesn’t have to walk_. This is stupid.

Sasuke doesn’t get to remedy it though, or to just snap back, before the boy is kneeling at his feet.

He can only open wide, incredulous eyes as the kitsune ties his shoelaces for him like it’s a perfectly normal thing to do. Sasuke is fairly certain the looks they attract have nothing to do with him anymore.

The boy is beaming when he stands up, proud of his handiwork, and Sasuke knows he is reddening enough to match his mask. He touches the long nose out of habit before it occurs to him…

“Should I take it off?” he asks, determined to ignore that weirdo kneeling in worship in the middle of the street. Weirdo shrugs.

“Nah, I think you’re good. People will think it’s a fashion thing.”

Sasuke splutters, offended. The boy just laughs. This is almost enough for Sasuke to take it off anyway, but he doesn’t want to be without it.

“It’s super cool by the way.”

“What?”

“Your mask! It’s cool! I have one too, for special occasions. I’ll show you! I made it myself for my first _hyakki yagyo_. If you’re still here this summer we can go together!”

Sasuke wants to slide the mask on his face – it would make him disappear, even in the kitsune’s eyes. He wants him to stop talking. And he’s frustrated that he can do none of these things. And that he does want to go to join the night parade, if he has the chance.

The No. 5 bus chooses this moment to take him out of that awkward moment, and just for that, Sasuke is ready to give it a chance.

[ **4.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623708962971402240/4)

They’re lucky enough to find seats. The fox offers Sasuke the window so that he can “look at the city”. Barely a minute later, an elderly woman boards the bus, and he leaves her his seat immediately. He goes to stand in front of Sasuke and starts pointing at and commenting on the various buildings they pass by.

Sasuke soon finds out that the boy’s catchphrase is “we’ll go someday”. His second catchphrase is “this is my favorite spot”. He seems to know the whole city by heart. At some point a group of young tourists approaches him to ask about tips on what to visit around the district they’re staying in, and the fox forgets about Sasuke entirely.

Which is quite a blessing, truth be told. The old woman smiles at Sasuke. He turns away.

Around the temple were mostly low, old one-storey buildings with wooden façade lining narrow streets, but as they near the center of the city, the streets get wider, the buildings taller. Not as tall as in Tokyo, he’s been told, but still taller than he’s ever seen, taller than most trees in his forest.

There is a village at the foot of the mountain. Sasuke goes from time to time, to grant blessings as thanks for the offerings left at their shrine and to do some shopping. It holds maybe two thousand souls, no more. It is nothing like this – all those people with their car and bike, parents taking children home from school, teenagers hanging around 24/7 shops, busy workers hurrying down the sidewalks. The bustling of their souls is overwhelming.

There is also a lot more spirits than Sasuke thought he would see.

A gnarly _obaryon_ hitching a ride on the back of a haggard office worker, a few _akateko_ hanging from trees in a park (“Okazaki park, we’ll go someday,” the boy supplies). He is sure he even sees a _kamikiri_ , those featherless bird-like creatures that love to cut people’s hair, perched on an old woman’s shoulders in a hair salon. He wants to ask his host, but the fox is still playing city guide, and Sasuke lets it go, swallowing back his annoyance.

He also sees _a lot_ of cat spirits longing on the outer walls of temples and mansions. And do they pass a few temples – there’s a reason why Kyoto is so popular among yokai. There are two thousand temples and shrines scattered across the old city and in the mountains nearby.

Sasuke can feel them. Even if they hold less value for worship than they once did, they still retain a strange kind of spirituality, if not from the entities and gods who invested them then from the places themselves. It is reassuring in a way, that the human can still feel some measure of deference to those places, even when they are insensitive to their holistic powers. It is not to say that no one is praying. He thought it would be, but it isn’t – he can hear them, and it soothes his nerves a little.

He is disappointed by the lack of vegetation though. There are many parks and planted trees, but it looks like the foxes don’t live at walking distance from a decent forest.

They pass under the massive torii gate of Heian-jingu (“we’ll go someday”) and past the Museum of Modern Art and the National Museum (“we’ll go there too!”). Eventually, they reach a district where the buildings get really tall. To Sasuke’s utter dismay, this is when the boy informs him that they’ll be getting off the bus soon.

[ **5.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623979606884696064/5)

Sasuke holds his breath for all the lobby entrance they pass, hoping it won’t be the one they have to enter. He doesn’t think he can bear living in one of those massive buildings, with so much concrete and steel above his head.

But they eventually turn into a narrow one-way street with only low houses and parked cars, and when they finally stop, it’s in front of a one-storey house painted bright red, with wood windows and numerous bikes parked on the side.

The sign above the entrance reads “The Fox’s Ryokan”. Subtle.

“Mom!” the boy screams as soon as the fox steps in. “We’re here!”

He tosses his ugly sneakers aside and goes in barefooted instead of slipping into one of the pairs of slippers aligned near the door for that exact purpose. Sasuke takes off his own shoes with a sigh of relief. To the right, a corridor leads deeper into the house, the greens and lights of an inner courtyard peeking through a window at the end. There is also a staircase, just next to what Sasuke assumes is a reception desk – empty for now. To the left is a parlor with low tables and cushions, pierced by a large window opening to the street on one side, and on the opposite by a rice paper door where the boy disappeared. Above it, a sign reads “private”.

Sasuke goes in.

He finds himself in a large kitchen doubling down as a small dining room. There the boy is, chatting up animatedly to an older _kitsune_ Sasuke assumes in his mother.

She has long, long hair, braided down past her waist, of such a vibrant blood red that it has to mean something ominous. But the face she turns to Sasuke is amicable, full of good humor, with a wide smile sporting a truly uncanny resemblance to her son’s.

Sasuke counts seven white tails with no short amount of admiration. Such a powerful spirit…

He can’t help but wonder what she is doing here, cooking in plain clothes and a flashy apron that reads “World’s #1 Mom”.

“Sasuke, hello! It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

She leaves her wooden spoon in the pot to go to him. He didn’t notice before, but she is very tall, and quite muscular too. With her fiery hair and tooth-full grin, she strikes quite a sight, even with the apron.

“I am Kushina, head of the kitsune here in Kyoto, and I am delighted to welcome you among us.”

Her blues eyes shine with sincerity and warmth. She touches the tip of her nose before taping his, beaming. Sasuke reddens lightly.

“Thank you for having me,” he manages to articulate, bowing.

“Ah, a polite one for a change!”

“I am polite!” the boy protests. A glare from his mother sends him back grumbling.

“You must be hungry! I’m making _oden_ , I hope you like it. Did you have a good trip? This one didn’t cause you any trouble right? Were you on time, huh, were you?” she asks the boy, poking his cheek.

“I was barely late! Right, Sasuke?”

“I didn’t wait long,” he confirms. She seems suspicious, but she lets it go.

“I cleared the spare bedroom upstairs,” she tells the boy, “but I didn’t have the time to set it up. Bring in a futon and some sheets, and check the bathrooms while you’re at it. Oh, and one last thing.”

She points at the table pushed against the wall. There sits a large rock bundled into an old blanket, printed with faded rainbows and hearts.

“The _ubume_ left. Her room needs to be cleaned too.”

“She entrusted him to you?” the boy asks. His voice is tight, eyes shining. His mother smiles softly.

“Yes. I promised we would take care of him. She’s free now.”

“I’ll put it in the garden, with the others.”

The boy scoops up the rock with great care, as if holding a baby.

Ah. Right.

“It’s her child?” Sasuke asks once the young fox is gone with his charge.

“Yes. She didn’t want to leave him alone.”

“Did he die?”

“I don’t know. She couldn’t say either. But she needed to let him go either way.”

His mother dealt with an _ubume_ in the village once, the ghost of a local woman who died giving birth. The child had survived, and she still wanted to look after them. Only when she was assured her sister’s family would take could care of her child did she accept to stop haunting their home. His mother kept a close eye on them since, just in case.

The child is old now, but to this day they still bring offering to their shrine with the family.

“We have a few human guests here, but this place is heavily warded, they can’t see through us at all. So you can give that up, if you’d like.”

She is pointing at his feet, he realizes, and he doesn’t know how she guessed, but it is a relief to shed his weight and lift from the ground at last, leaving the slippers with no regret. She beams.

“So, Sasuke,” the kitsune asks as she sets up a tea set on the table and put some water to boil, all while keeping a careful eye on her steaming pot. She makes a little grimace at the slight burnt scent, but after stirring a little and adding some unknown herbs, it is gone. “Tell me, how is your mother?”

Maybe this won’t be so bad, Sasuke thinks.

[ **6.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/624251391189319680/6)

_Kitsune_ tend to be solitary creatures, more so than _tengu_. The head of the foxes – “call me Kushina, Kushina!” – explains to Sasuke that she used to travel the land on her own to bring mischief and fortune to humans, and that is how she met Uchiha Mikoto. She even lived on their mountain for a while, but that was before Sasuke’s birth.

“There are already a lot of yokai in Kyoto, benevolent and ill-intentioned alike, clans and loners. The _karasu tengu_ of Hara Mountain can settle here too – we will do our best to help you.”

He knows she means well, and he is grateful for her care. She’s right, Kyoto is probably the best option for them if it comes to it. But Sasuke doesn’t want them to move at all.

“I know it’s not easy,” she says, as if reading his mind. “We’ve been driven from a few places too. But you can make a home anywhere, if you wish to.”

“We could probably hold on for a while longer. But my father… he didn’t say, but I think he fears we will… If we have to leave in a hurry, if we are cursed or attacked… the Uchiha have always been benevolent. He doesn’t want us to turn resentful.”

Spirits like them are different from the human-formed, the product of their hatred or love, from the ghosts, the cursed, from the demons and the gods. It’s their long animal life and survival that granted them this existence, and as such, they are not bond to their nature like some yokai are. But that doesn’t mean they are immune to the corruption of their soul. _Tengu_ and _kitsune_ , and _nekomata_ and _onikuma_ and all the other animal spirits, they have their own moral sense and wisdom. The choice is theirs to help humans or torment them, to protect nature or trample it, to serve their gods or turn from their teaching.

And the clan has grown increasingly wary and bitter with each passing year and each encroachment into their territory.

“Better leave on your own before you’re forced to?”

Her voice is kind, compassionate.

Sasuke likes her.

He nods.

“Well, that’s why you’re here now right? To prepare. We’ll help here too, you’ll see. Don’t be afraid.”

He doesn’t even protest. The reassurance is nice, and there’s no one else here.

“Alright, diner is ready! Can you fetch naruto?”

Sasuke frowns, puzzled, but maybe it’s a common ingredient in oden? He looks around him.

“Huh… Is it stored somewhere in particular?”

Kushina stills in her pot-stirring. She turns to him with a stormy expression, and he scrambles for an apology even if he has no idea what he said that was so offensive, but when she opens her mouth, it’s not after him that she screams.

“NARUTO! COME DOWN HERE!”

The scream rattles the windows and shakes Sasuke’s bone. They hear the thundering of footsteps speeding across the corridors above their head, then down the stairs, and the boy bursts into the kitchen, panic on his face.

“What, what? What did I do?”

“What did you do? What didn’t you do! Is this how I raised you you brat?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Ask him what your name is!”

She points her spoon at Sasuke who shifts awkwardly, embarrassed.

“It’s… Naruto?” he guesses, from the latest clues at his disposal, but the hesitation is obvious in his voice.

The boy – Naruto, then? – slaps his hands on his mouth with a dramatic gasp.

“I forgot!”

“You forgot to introduce yourself huh? And you have the gal to claim you're a polite one!”

The young fox turns to Sasuke and bows, looking mortified.

“I’m Naruto and I’m very, very sorry!”

“It’s- it’s okay.”

At least now he knows.

“You could have asked!”

He could have, Sasuke realizes now, but Naruto earns a light swat at the back of his head for that remark, though Kushina doesn’t look truly angry. He still clutches at the spot as if she had hit him with her iron pot.

“You don’t go around just asking names, Naruto!”

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry!”

Despite the annoyance clear on her face, Kushina ruffles the boy’s hair, affectionate.

“Go serve the guests, and be polite! We’ll eat when you’re done.”

Something tells Sasuke that the boy would have protested under other circumstances, but he doesn’t dare now. He grabs the huge pot by its handles and waits for his mother to dump in a large ladle before scurrying away. The broth sloshes around but doesn’t spill – thanks to her blessing, no doubt, seeing how careless he is.

“That one, I swear,” Kushina laments.

Her voice is full of warmth.

[ **7.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/624649688083283968/7)

They settle in the kitchen to eat – the parlor is for guests to use, if they want to eat their own food or drink some tea, but the kitchen is off-limits. Kushina seems peculiar about her kitchen and spends a long time explaining to Sasuke what he is and isn’t allowed to touch. There is a _yamaoroshi_ living in one of the drawers that is best left undisturbed, but she shows him another perfectly functional grater he can use instead.

Oden is her specialty, she says, and is her got-to dish to welcome guests. Sasuke is starving, and the stew is a wonder – it settles warm and heavy in his stomach and his anxiety and doubts quiet down with each mouthful, not banished but soothed, tamed. He compliments the fox – she beams, pleased.

This is when the kitchen door slides open with a bang, and in comes another fox, and the first thing they say is “I can’t believe you didn’t tell him your name,” followed by “this is why I’ll get my fifth tail before you do.”

It quickly devolves from there. Naruto jumps to his feet, red with embarrassment and indignation, and starts to chase the other around.

It’s a girl, as far as Sasuke can tell, with Kushina’s red hair, albeit shorter, and thick glasses perched on her pointy nose. Her appearance looks about the same age as Naruto and his and she has, indeed, four tails, like him.

After a few minutes of bickering and leaping through the room, Kushina points out to the girl that she didn’t introduce herself either.

“Haha!” Naruto said, triumphant, as if he was the one to call her out. “Sasuke, meet my younger sister Karin, who is as rude as me!”

“ _Younger sister?_ I’m older than you!”

“You don’t know that!”

“If we count by maturity, I have century on you!”

They start fighting again. Kushina keeps eating, wholly unperturbed, so Sasuke decides to imitate her. It must be a usual occurrence.

He supposes neither of them knows when they were born, hence the argument. They must not be blood siblings, as Kushina is not their mother. From what he knows of kitsune, the older ones, who can take human form, take under their wings foxes that have just grown a second tail and are thus on the path to becoming yokai themselves. They teach and nurture them until they can form a third tail and gain wisdom and a will of their own. Kitsune sometimes stay with the ones who raised them into spirits, but they don’t tend to form clans, unlike tengu. 

“If you two are finished,” Kushina says calmly when there is a lull in the argument, “please eat.”

She is the picture of serenity yet the two foxes scurry to comply. Sasuke swallows around a sudden weight in his throat thinking of his own mother, smiling with eyes promising great retribution when she caught them throwing pebbles at the _ippondatara_ that hopped around the stream at the foot of the temple.

“How was your day, Karin?” Kushina asks once they dive back into their bowl. The girl shrugs.

“Same as usual. Lots of idiots.”

“You must feel right at home then.”

She elbows Naruto in the ribs.

“Karin is a tour guide at the Fushimi Inari Taisha,” Karin supplies when she catches Sasuke’s questioning gaze.

For a moment he thinks she is going to laugh, to tell him it’s a joke. She doesn’t.

“That’s… really?”

“Have to keep a look on the place,” Karin says with a shrug before going back to inhale her oden – she seems to be competing with Naruto about which one will finish faster. She must feel Kushina’s stern look on her head though, because she sets her bowl down and stands straighter, pushing her glasses up to look more serious, but they are fogged up by her bowl’s steam, so the effect is quite lost.

“There are a few of us working in the staff or living among the priests. We make sure the restricted areas are respected, that the spirits living around are left in peace, or are driven away if they cause trouble. Plus, if I can get the humans to offer a quick prayer or an offering to Inari, it’s always nice.”

He can’t imagine having people swarming their temple all day long every day, and theirs is far from being a main shrine.

“Does it… does it still enshrine? Are they… still there?”

He doesn’t know if it’s intrusive to ask, but Karin answers willingly enough, so he supposes it wasn’t too big a misstep.

“Sort of. Inari just seldom comes to this plan anymore. But it is still their home and still ours to protect.”

She seems to be taking her job very seriously. He imagines the foxes have fewer messages to pass on their god’s behalf now. Most of them have retreated from earthly affairs over the years, leaving the humans to their own device and the care of their faithful servants. 

They all wonder, if the human’s world is degrading because the gods left it, or if it's the other way around, if their bitterness at the way the humans treat it is corroding it even further. Either way, there is not much to be done, as long as humans don’t want to change. Not turning to resentment, that is all them messengers can do.

“We’ll take you, one of these days,” the girl says, though she only looks mildly enthralled by the idea. “I’d like to tell you we’ll choose a day that isn’t too busy, but there’s no such thing.”

He does want to visit the famed shrine and pay his respects to Inari, but he can’t say he looks forward to the crowd.

[ **8.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/625456027874328576/8)

There is a steep, narrow staircase hidden behind a closet door in the kitchen, that leads to the part of the first floor guests don’t have access to, where the foxes live.

A small room for each, plus a spare that Sasuke understands was used as storage more than anything before he came along. They don’t want to put him into one of the guest’s rooms because he is a “guest of the family, not the ryokan”. There is also a bathroom at the end of the corridor.

Naruto hands him a yukata and a towel, tells him where to find the soap, and leaves him to his own device. Sasuke has a good soak in the bath, indulging in water warmer than he is used too, as they don’t heat it in the mountain. The cold doesn’t bother them, can’t kill them either, and they quite like it cold.

He can’t deny the heat is also nice though.

It’s only when he’s lying down on the futon, when he becomes aware of the dull roar of the city all around him, of the buzz of the electricity and currents coursing through the walls, of the millions of souls packed along the labyrinth of the streets, only then does it hit Sasuke full force.

How far he is from his home, from his family and clan, from all he knows. How lost and alone he is here, how strange this place and these people. What would happen to him, if they decide they don’t want to take care of him after all? Sasuke can’t ride the wind yet. He would have no idea how to go home.

He is exhausted, but sleep evades him. He gives up after a while, sits up on the futon, and slips his mask on.

The room disappears around him. He is not in the guesthouse anymore, he is not even in Kyoto. He is nowhere, and so, if he wishes, he is anywhere. He doesn’t know how to wish yet, doesn’t know how to will the road he wants to walk on to appear at his feet, but he hopes…

“Are you alright, Sasuke?”

He doesn’t know how to call either, so Itachi was already wearing his mask too. Was already waiting for him.

His brother ruffles his hair lightly, and Sasuke can finally relax a bit.

“Are you there now? Did it go well?”

There is a note of worry in his brother’s voice.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” he answers hastily. “The kitsune have been very welcoming.”

He doesn’t want them to bear any blame – it is not their fault if he feels so bad despite their best efforts.

“You know you can come back any time, Sasuke. No one will be angry.”

He will. He will be angry at himself. He is not a child anymore, he is not a newly formed _tengu_ stumbling around his own mind and discovering the world through new eyes. His clan entrusted this task to him. He has to see it through.

“It’s just… It’s a lot. But I’m okay, I promise. I’ll get used to it.”

“You will,” Itachi assures, and his conviction is comforting. It always was – Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto were the ones to take Sasuke in as a young crow and give him a name, when he grew his second pair of wing and became a _tengu_ , but they were both very busy with their duties, and it fell mostly to Itachi, their first son and already a few decades old, to teach Sasuke. He was never impatient nor doubtful, always careful with his words and actions. He taught Sasuke to fly, to vanish in and out of the humans’ sight, to bless and curse them, to tend to the forest and its many inhabitants.

Come to think of it, this is probably the first thing Sasuke will learn that won’t come from his brother.

“You are not alone, Sasuke. You never are, you know that right? We are here, with you.”

He knows. He wouldn’t find his way back, but they would come for him. If someone looks for him, then he is not lost.

“Sleep now. If you need to reach us, you can ask a crow. Or, you know. Use the phone.”

Itachi laughs at the grimace of Sasuke’s mask deepening, before he reaches out to take off his own. Sasuke would have liked to see his face, but at soon as the mask slips, he disappears.

Sighing, he takes his off and lies back down on the futon. The city is still loud and he is still alone, but when he closes his eyes, sleep claims him easily.

[ **9.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/625900612303880192/9)

There are half a dozen rooms in the ryokan, not counting the ones where the foxes sleep. Come to think of it, it is a lot of rooms for such a small building, and they are quite spacious too, but well, foxes wouldn’t let something like a lack of space inconvenience them.

The back building holds a communal bath. There is also a communal dining room where breakfast is served to all guests in the morning, but diner is only on occasions. The ones who want to eat Kushina’s cooking are served in their room, usually by Naruto doing the rounds with his pot and ladle. 

During the day, Karin works at the Inari shrine. When she is at the ryokan, Kushina cooks, chats with the guest, tends to the plants of the inner gardens and does all sorts of small repairs around the house. She’s often out though. Naruto does most of the cleaning and tidying chores, and he too goes out for grocery shopping or other things that Sasuke doesn’t know about because…

Well. He is yet to accompany him. 

Sasuke feels guilty for his reluctance, though Naruto is surprisingly tactful about it, and doesn’t press too much. Sasuke went with him to the grocery store once, and the experience wasn’t awful, but he is not in a hurry to try more.

Since he feels bad about it, he has taken to help out around the ryokan as much as he can. Most of the guests aren’t human – they are either lost souls looking for help, like the ubume, or they are simply traveling to or through Kyoto, like the pair of beautiful jorogumo that has been staying in the biggest room for a few days now. He hears their spider legs click through the walls at night.

This life is strange to Sasuke. The guests pay for their stay – humans with human money, and yokai with luck, predictions, charms, or human money too, albeit more or less dated. Because they too are part of this world in a way Sasuke and his family never were. The foxes work to earn money, to tend to the guesthouse and buy food.

The Uchiha seldom leave the mountain. They go down to the village to buy necessities sometimes, but they hunt or grow most of their food, and the rest comes from the offerings at the shrine. Their work is not in the human world and it’s not paid in their currency – they tend to the trees and the rivers and the animals of the forest, they settle grudges between spirits and occasionally answer the humans’ prayers. The temple does welcome travelers from time to time, but he has seen more yokai in the guesthouse since he’s been here than they have at the temple in a year. Human visitors are even rarer.

Since most of the guests aren’t human, it makes the few of them hanging around the place all the more jarring, but they are none the wiser. And they are not here by chance either.

One day Naruto comes back from grocery shopping with a young couple in tow. Sasuke is peeling and cutting vegetables while Kushina chops the meat to fill the gyoza. Karin has a day off – she’s been locked in the bath for the better part of it, and doesn’t seem to be going out any time soon.

“I met them near the train station,” Naruto tells his mother. “They’re looking for a place to stay.”

“We’re very sorry for the inconvenience,” the man keeps saying shyly. They bow several times, embarrassed. Apparently they had a reservation in a hotel nearby, but there was a mishap in the dates, and now the hotel is full and they are stranded in Kyoto with little resources. They come from a remote island in the South and it is their first time traveling out. Their family didn’t approve, and they don’t have much money. They look haggard and exhausted, a little miserable.

It is great luck that Naruto found them, really.

Kushina rattles a price Sasuke knows to be far lower than what she charged the last human guests. There are no signs anywhere in the guesthouse that spell out prices.

The couple thanks her about a hundred times.

Kushina raises an eyebrow at Naruto when he comes back into the kitchen after settling them down in one of the rooms. He shrugs.

“They looked like they needed help… And they’re trying to have a child. But it’s not working out so well.”

She smiles, pleased and fond.

“Leave it to me.”

They stay for a little over a week, looking happier and steadier with every passing day. The woman takes to bring back sweets and pastries from their daily excursions, that she shares with the foxes and the rest of the guests. She also puts some in the little shrine outside the ryokan, that hosts a small sculpture of Inari so crude and clumsy, Sasuke is convinced Naruto is the one who carved it.

Their gratitude is infinite when the time comes for them to leave. Sasuke thinks they must know. They must know in some way, on some level, even if they’re not fully aware of it, even if they never quite come to formulate it, they must know that something special happened to them, that it was no ordinary stay.

Kushina gives a thumb up to Naruto once they are gone, and he beams happily.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second batch, part 10 to 19, wrapping up the second arc kinda. I'm out of written material so the next update will be even longer lol but well. If you're impatient it'll come out faster on [tumblr](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/623440734528421888/yokai-student-exchange-masterpost) :) Also some of the tumblr posts have endnotes about the thing mentioned in there so yeah. Enjoy!

[ **10.** ](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/626261567327059968/10)

“Higashi Hongan-ji is only a five-minute walk away from here,” Naruto blurts out one day.

Sasuke is sitting at the foot of the old tsubaki tree that takes up most of the inner garden of the guesthouse. Its spirit takes the form of a beautiful but sad-looking woman in an ill-fitted kimono. She hangs upside down from the branches and looks over his shoulder as he crafts _ofuda_ and _omamori_ with the portable drawing box Kushina dug up from storage for him. He brought his own calligraphy set, as he finds the brushwork very soothing, and several of the guests, yokai, oni and humans alike, have asked for one of his talismans.

He tried to teach Naruto, but between his inability to seat still more than three minutes straight and his clumsy hands, it ended very shortly with more ink on his hands and clothes than on paper.

“Okay?” he answers uncertainly, though it’s not hard to guess why Naruto is saying this. The fox scratches the back of his head, sheepish.

“It’s pretty big, but it’s not as… touristy as some other temples. I like it ‘cause there is a massive ginkgo tree in the courtyard that hosts a _bakeicho no sei_ , and if you tell him a good joke or bring him some sake, it will play its gong for good fortune. It’s funny ‘cause the humans can hear it but they can’t see where it comes from so they’re always super confused…”

It must be funny indeed.

Sasuke looks up to the _furutsubaki no rei_ , as if she could give him some advice on what to do. He sits here because he finds it very difficult, this life that is not shadowed by the foliage of the trees. There are parks and gardens in the city, and trees and flowers on temple grounds, but some streets are entirely naked, and the open sky above his head makes him anxious. The buildings don’t make up for it all.

It’s been more than a week and he hasn’t gone further than the grocery shop at the corner of the streets. He can’t stay here forever, though he believes the tree wouldn’t mind.

“Alright.”

Naruto looks up with round eyes as Sasuke closes the ink bottle and gathers the paper back into the writing box.

“Alright?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Naruto scrambles to the kitchen to warn his mother they’re going out, and then to the entrance to put on his shoes, as if he’s worried Sasuke is going to change his mind.

Sasuke lowers himself to the ground and slips into his sneakers, trying not to look as unenthusiastic as he feels. Naruto looks at him expectantly for a few seconds, but when Sasuke doesn’t get what he’s trying to convey, he kneels to tie his shoes, again.

Sasuke resists the urge to kick him off, mortified. Can’t he just, remind him? He is so weird.

“We’re off mom!” he yells. Sasuke winces at the volume – Naruto doesn’t have Kushina’s range yet, but he’s surely getting there.

“Have fun!” she yells back. It makes a few trinkets fall off on the reception desk. Sasuke wonders if the humans talk about that in their internet reviews.

By the door of the ryokan, on a narrow ornamental table, sits a big, heavy-looking teakettle. It is made of cast iron, with beautiful, changing patterns of clouds and swirling wind. There is a kanji etched on the surface, but Sasuke can’t decipher it.

Every time he goes out, Naruto kisses the tip of his fingers and lays it on the teakettle. Kushina also pats it from time to time, and Karin greets it when she comes back from work, but they never use it or even move it from its perch.

Sasuke has an idea of what it is, but he wonders why it stays idle then. It seems to be a given of the house, so he doesn’t ask. He can’t help saluting the tea kettle too, even if only in his head.

He asks it for strength as he steps out into the street and fall into Naruto’s bouncy steps.

**[11.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/626626061335216128/11) **

The main building is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, Naruto tells Sasuke among a flow of other information that mostly goes over the tengu’s head. The main hall is, indeed, impressive, though Sasuke prefers the gate and its layers of intricate wood knots. He is fond of those, and he knows the trees are usually happy to end up in this kind of beautiful work.

Naruto didn’t lie, there are not that many people and Sasuke can relax a little as they walk the wooden terrace around the halls. They peak in, but don’t care to enter. This is not their ground, and they wouldn’t want to trespass if the temple is inhabited.

They visit the _bakeicho no sei_ who seems happy to meet someone new. Their skin is the yellow of the ginkgo leaves in autumn, but at the height of spring the tree is a lush green and the spirit shines bright against it.

Sasuke often ponders that the humans are very unlucky, to be cut off from this world. The bakeicho rings their gong with a mischievous smile. Behind them, a couple and their three children look around them, puzzled, but if the youngest girl’s gaze lingers on the tree, they remain oblivious to the spirit’s presence.

Later, when Naruto has wandered between the trees to try to catch a few _chokeshin_ , ghost butterflies, Sasuke stumbles upon the girl near the collection box.

The rest of the family is studying the temple map a few meters away, and has probably not noticed that the girl has snatched one of her parent’s wallets. She is taking out coins and perching on her tiptoe to put them in the collection box, one by one.

“Let my brother be there for my birthday,” she says with each coin. “Let my brother be there for my birthday.”

She doesn’t _say_ it, not really. She’s praying, to no one in particular, and Sasuke just happens to be listening.

Naruto comes back into sight, chasing after the chokeshin. Until they land on the shoulders of the eldest son of the family.

Naruto looks up at Sasuke with a sad expression.

The boy is sick, soon to turn into a white butterfly too. They are harmless, just flying around and flocking to the ones who are to join them. It is said that their soul lingers in this form for as long as the life they would have lived had sickness not claimed them. But fate isn’t written anywhere, so others say they just wait for their loved ones to depart from this world too.

“Let my brother be there for my birthday.”

Sasuke often hears prayers, but he rarely answers. Tengu don’t deal much with humans – their duty is to the mountain and the forest, even though they do show gratitude to the ones that still pay their respect and bring them offerings.

But there is no mountain and no forest for him to watch over here.

He takes out an omamori from his pocket, of the ones that bring health and safety to a household.

“Here,” he says lamely, offering it to the little girl. She looks up at him, a serious frown on her round face until it breaks into a wide smile. She lays a coin in his hand before stuffing the wallet in the large front pocket of her dress and taking the paper talisman with two hands.

“Thank you!” she says with a bow. She races back to her parents, clutching at the talisman. He can’t hear what she tells them, but the adults look up to him. The woman looks suspicious, the man, confused. Their discomfort and disapproval weigh him down, and he feels the urge to vanish.

The girl holds onto the omamori. If she keeps it carefully, her wish will be granted. But will she? The woman seems ready to come to him and tell him off. Maybe they will throw it away. Sasuke didn’t make the charm so that offending him would cause the opposite of the girl’s wish – he is not so vindictive. Still, this is very unpleasant.

The family leaves. Naruto joins him.

“That was nice of you,” he says, a little uncertain. Sasuke doesn’t look at him.

“I want to go back.”

They leave the temple in silence.

**[12.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/627006218472407040/12) **

The humans have their own monsters now.

Maybe they always have, but they still used to be more afraid of yokai and oni than of those. Of course, a few human monsters are spirit-made – possessed, corrupted, cursed. But most of them are just… like this.

This is what humans fear now. Other humans. They don’t heed the spirit world – most don’t believe at all, not even old folktales that would save their lives if only they listened to it. They used to know not to walk certain paths at certain times, not to fall to certain vices, not to upset certain people, to be respectful and kind and be repaid this kindness.

Sasuke doesn’t mind their progress, their tools getting sharper and their world getting larger. But he doesn’t understand why they have to cast their traditions aside, why they are so stubborn and so skeptical.

The girl’s mother, she wasn’t wary of him because he might be a malevolent spirit – though he could have been. She saw him as a threat for his human form, he can only imagine what she could speculate, what she would tell her daughter. He just wanted to help. But humans don’t do that, do they?

“It’s not so bad,” Naruto is saying as they walk back to the ryokan, words quick and fumbling. “Sure they get suspicious sometimes, but most of them appreciate the help y’know. I can’t tell you the number of weird looks I get on a daily basis, I think it’s also because we look so young. I’m sure it wouldn’t make them so nervous if we looked like nice grandpas or something.”

Sasuke can definitely understand people being wary of the fox. With his bright blond air and tacky clothes, they must think he’s some sort of delinquent. Passing quick judgment based on what their eyes and prejudices tell them is also a classic human attribute.

The boy keeps talking and Sasuke knows he should say something, if only to make him stop. He’s fine – he’s annoyed and a little disappointed maybe, because in the village everyone knew him and no one ever treated him with caution and it’s unpleasant to be suspected of ill will when he was just trying to help, but it’s _fine_. It’s just another thing to get used to. He has to tell Naruto that.

He means to say “We don’t have to talk about it,” because they don’t, he gets it. Or “You don’t have to comfort me”, because it’s fine and it just makes him feel worse that Naruto thinks he can’t get over such a minor inconvenience.

What he ends up saying is…

“You don’t have to talk.”

Naruto’s teeth click when he snaps his mouth shut.

Sasuke doesn’t get to apologize. Naruto laughs and Sasuke doesn’t know him that well yet he can tell easily that he is not amused in the least. For a kitsune, known for being sly and cunning, talented tricksters, he’s a terrible liar, wearing his heart on his sleeve.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m annoying you, aren’t I? I know I should talk less, I’ve been told before, but I can’t help it, it just…”

His mouth snaps shut again when he realizes he’s again rambling. Naruto has too many words, it’s true, but since Sasuke doesn’t have enough, it sorts of work out. Except Sasuke is really tired today. He had never realized before, nor appreciated, how quiet his life is in the mountain. Not only because they are spared the constant buzz of the city he has to endure here while the sound of the forest is akin to quiet in his ears, but also because they talk very little. Most of their time is spent alone, tending to the forest and the chores of the temple, meditating, tuning into the breath of the mountain. He thinks he has talked – or at least been talked too – more in the days he has been in Kyoto than in his entire existence prior to coming here, and it is exhausting.

So he doesn’t say another word, knowing it’s rude of him and that he is being unfair and hurtful, but unable to break the silence.

They are quiet for the rest of the way.

**[13.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/627452089571868673/13) **

Kushina doesn’t ask, though she must sense the uneasy mood when they make it back to the guesthouse. She sends Naruto on laundry duty and keeps Sasuke to help her out in the kitchen.

She doesn’t ask, yet he feels the urge to talk to her, though again, he doesn’t manage to quite say what he wants to.

“Why do you live here?”

He winces at his tone – he sounds judging, almost accusing. But she doesn’t take offense, simply chuckles at his bluntness and grabs another potato to peel before she answers.

“I can tell you, but you won’t believe me.”

He frowns, puzzled. Why wouldn’t he believe her? Is it some kind of special curse, is there a story behind it?

“Tell me,” he asks firmly, knife halted halfway through chopping a carrot.

She leans in a little and whispers, with an air of secrecy, “it’s because I like it here.”

Her laugh is loud, boisterous, as she sits back and relishes in his confusion. He wrinkles his nose in annoyance – she keeps laughing at him, face split open by a bright, teasing smile.

“There is no mystery to it, Sasuke, and nothing much to understand. I like it here, for the exact reasons you don’t.”

He startles a little at that, embarrassed.

“I’m sor…”

“Tut tut, don’t apologize. It’s not an offense. We knew it wouldn’t be easy for you.”

He doubts she’s talking about her children. He supposes she must have discussed it with his parents more than he thought. Again, guilt and shame squeeze at his insides – he hates that he is so bad at this.

“I was getting crazy with boredom in the mountain. I remember your mother being so puzzled, at me struggling to find interest in the things she spent most of her time doing. I like it better here. I like that there are so many people to meet every day and that every day is different, while she finds her peace in the slow change of the season, each day almost identical to the next. I like the noise that gives you a headache, I like the crowd that makes you uneasy. It is that simple.”

He is left to wonder how his family would cope in his place. They would let nothing show, but he can’t imagine his father or his mother enjoying it much here. Itachi, even worse – he was always withdrawn and solitary, even by their standards.

“How long did you live among us?”

“I’m not sure. A few years, maybe a decade?”

“And it never got easier?” he asks, mildly horrified. She laughs again.

“Of course it did! How could I have stayed so long otherwise? I just came to like it for different reasons.”

“Like what?”

He fails to see what he could ever find pleasant here.

“We were very free up there, compared to how careful we have to be in the presence of humans. I liked the space, to run up and down the mountain. I miss it sometimes. And of course, I very much liked spending time with your mother.”

This only makes the guilt heavier – of course spending time with people you cared about would be good enough a reason. He can’t cross Naruto’s expression from his mind, that split second where he looked so hurt, caught off guard by Sasuke’s undeserved harsh words.

“If you think you did wrong,” Kushina says gently, “you just need to apologize.”

It sounds easy when she puts it that way, and he knows she’s right, but he also doubts he’ll be able to face Naruto at all, let alone talk to him.

He jumps at the front door bursting open. In storms Karin, looking both worried and pissed off.

“You’re home early,” Kushina remarks, sounding unsurprised. Karin eyes them suspiciously, throwing a dirty look at Sasuke, though she can’t possible know…

“I heard Naruto cry,” she deadpans, before disappearing up the stairs. Sasuke gapes, horrified.

“Don’t worry about it”, Kushina adds, trying to be reassuring. “Naruto’s a crier, better get used to it.”

“How did she…”

“They’re very protective of each other.”

She sounds a little sad and there must be more to it, but Sasuke is not about to press.

**[14.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/628339689117597696/14) **

Karin slams Sasuke’s door open and almost looks disappointed that she didn’t get to wake him up, as he is already meditating on his futon despite the early hour. 

“Get ready,” she says, “you’re coming with me.” 

He feels too guilty to say no, and it will also be a good excuse to avoid Naruto – though he wonders if avoiding her would be a better idea. Dinner was a bit stilted the night before, Karin glaring at him and Naruto avoiding his gaze while Kushina ate on serenely. Sasuke didn’t get to speak to the boy. 

She’s not asking for his opinion anyway. It’s her day off, and whatever she plans on doing, she seems determined to take him along. He gets dressed reluctantly and has just the time to grab a few dorayaki on the kitchen counter before they’re out in the streets.

He’s very worried she’s going to have him hop on the bike she drives to work, but she sets off walking. He’ll take the bus over those things any day. Naruto has unsubtly hinted at taking him for a ride, and Sasuke has unsubtly ignored the offer. And Naruto is never going to want to hang out with him again, so that’s one problem solved. 

Great work, really. 

She makes them go into the train station though, and that’s when he realized with mild horror that they’re not taking the bus. 

They’re taking the _subway_. 

The bike doesn’t seem so bad after all. 

He can practically feel her smugness though, can see the challenge in her eyes as she buys a ticket for him, as if she’s waiting for him to call a time out, to get out of it. He’s dying to, and had he been with Naruto, he would have. The boy would have asked him beforehand anyway, or not even suggested it in the first place. 

But Sasuke won’t do her the satisfaction, so he grits his teeth and follows her below the ground. 

The trip is half an hour. It is excruciating.

Even Karin seems to feel a little bad for him after a while, as his grip tightens and tightens on the bar he has to hold to keep his balance, as the sea of people undulates around them. 

There is no wind down in the subway tunnels. No sky, no air. All there is, is people and more people, loud and agitated, pressing from all sides. Sasuke has to refrain from shoving them away or cursing them, from bolting out of the train and back into the open air. They get out only to change line – he gives up then and takes advantage of the shuffle of the crowd to fade away from the human eyes. He hovers above their head, out of reach, even in the wagon. He can breathe a little easier after that, though the weight above that is cutting him from the sky still distresses him greatly. Karin barely looks up at him, except to signify him their stop, and he steps out of the wagon gratefully. 

He has never been so glad to see some cars and buildings, when they finally make it back to the surface. He wonders how stupidly relieved and shaken he looks that Karin wouldn’t even mock him, but he can’t bring himself to put up a brave front after such an awful experience. Why would anyone willingly subject themselves to this is beyond him. 

They take a bus – he has gained a new appreciation for it, even if it is quite busy too. Karin doesn’t say anything and Sasuke has given up on an explanation, or even a word. It’s not like he could go back on his own anyway. 

The view of the river catches him by surprise. 

It’s a pleasant day, with a light breeze but plenty of sun, so there are a lot of people strolling along the riverbank and on the bridge near the bus stop where they get off. Karin tells him it’s called Togestukyo, but doesn’t volunteer more information, and he wonders if she’s that perfunctory as a tour guide or if he is a special case. He can’t imagine her being enthusiastic and entertaining like some guides he’s seen in the street, ushering their tourist group from one spot to the next with an army of anecdotes and jokes at the ready. 

They cross the bridge. It’s a long, low bridge planted on a series of sturdy pillars in the Katsura River. It is beautiful, in the way human constructions sometimes are, when they put their expertise and ingenuity to good use. Sasuke likes bridges. 

The view is pleasing in the middle of the bridge, with the running river below and the open sky above, the rolling hills covered in trees all around. Even the rows of houses and shops lining the riverbank aren’t so offensive from here. The bridge is most certainly protected by a _hashihime_ and it would be nice to meet her, but Sasuke is not about to ask Karin – he is sure she would say no on principle anyway. 

They don’t go further than the end of the bridge. She starts walking around with narrowed eyes, as if looking for someone. 

A group of children runs past her, all high giggling and flailing limbs. With impressive reflexes, she snatches one of them by the back of their shirt while the rest scurries away. 

It’s a boy – or trying to look like one. He’s wearing a tattered, checkered-pattern haori and a large rice hat that helps conceal the fact that his skin is a greyish brown, his face is pointy and covered in fine hair, and when he smiles up at Karin, he reveals a row of small, pointy teeth. 

It’s a _kawauso_ , a river otter, and one that is particularly bad at passing for a human. 

“You’re shapeshifting is still lacking, Nana”, Karin sighs, shaking him a little. 

“Don’t call me that! My name’s Inari!” 

“You’re undeserving of such a name.” 

She reaches into his haori and takes out several wallets and jewels, probably lifted from unsuspecting passerby. She shakes him again. 

“Where’s your grandfather? Does he know what you’re up to?” 

“What do you think?” 

The not-boy points at the riverbank behind him, where a small group is gathered around two old men who seem to be wrestling. Ah, of course. 

A lot of water yokai are very fond of sumo, for some reason. 

“Bargaining alcohol I presume,” Karin sighs, shaking her head. The kawauso’s grin widens. 

“What else?” 

Sake is another thing yokai are very fond of, aquatic or otherwise. Speaking of which, Karin produces a bottle from her bag. Not glass, but old painted ceramic with its cork. She also takes out a bag of spicy candy. 

“Candies for you, drinks for the old man. It will knock him out enough that you’ll be free all night to snuff out street lamps or whatever.” 

Most of human progress means little to yokai. Kawauso’s favorite trick used to be blowing out lanterns in the middle of the night, and when the humans changed to electrical lighting, they simply… kept doing that. 

The boy’s eyes shine at the sight of the prizes, but Karin snatches it out of reach with a raised eyebrow. 

“What do you want?” he grumbles, moody. 

“What do you think? I’m looking for the same idiot as always.” 

The boy nods with a smile, seemingly relieved at the simple request. 

“Follow me!”

**[15.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/628778480290693120/15) **

Karin and Sasuke follow the young _kawauso_ down the riverbank. Buildings and people get scarce until it’s only barks and a few old men chatting and playing go next to their fishing lines. A little further away and they are alone, the river to their right and the forest climbing up the mountain to their left. Sasuke’s mind settles down, overcome by the peaceful atmosphere. Though the city is not far, he feels better than he has all week.

The otter – it is weird indeed to call him Inari – stops them just before the line of trees between the path and the river breaks into a wide open space where the path spills into a small, rocky beach. There, sitting in the water propped against a big, polished stone, is a young kappa.

Few yokai have the ability to shapeshift and take human form. But almost all of them learned, over the years, to at least appear human in their eyes. It didn’t use to be a problem, back when people just accepted the existence of spirits among them. But they don’t anymore, and so yokai hide in plain sight, because most of them still want to do what they’re best at – either help humans, prank them, or eat them, though this last one has become increasingly difficult without arousing suspicion.

Humans do kill yokai, on occasions.

So it’s a kappa, with its green, scaly skin and beaked face. But it’s also a teenager with withe hair that conceals the dip filled with water at the top of his head. He’s eating raw fish, face and hands splattered with blood.  
Karin sends the little kawauso away before turning to Sasuke.  
“Alright, tengu. Your time to shine.”

She has the gale to look puzzled at his dumbstruck expression.  
“What? Why did you think I brought you along for?”

It’s best if he doesn’t answer that question, as “to torture me” was his leading theory up until a few seconds ago. He takes a deep breath, tries to reign in his frustration – she is trying to reel him up in some way, and he is supposed to help out.

“What do you want me to do?”

She only taps the top of her head as an answer.

“He knows me too well to fall for it, so I’ll leave it to you.”

Sasuke sighs, but indeed they have never met before – the kappa won’t be on his guard.

Sasuke takes off his shoes and floats down to the river, trying to look casual. The kappa hisses when he spots him, until he recognizes he is no threat.

“Oh, _karasu tengu_! What brings you out there?”

The kappa must not see Sasuke’s kind often. He stands up, gets closer. Sasuke waits until he’s out of the water to bow in greeting.

Unsuspecting, the kappa does the same.

The water on his head trickles down his face and he staggers a little, grinning at his own silliness since he really ought to know better by now. His teeth are long and even sharper than the kawauso, stained with blood. Sasuke feels a little guilty at tricking the yokai this way, but he supposes Karin just wants to talk to him.

A belief slightly trampled when the girl jumps out of the bushes and tackles the kappa to the ground before he can go back into the water to fill his head again. He shrieks, trying to wriggle out of her grip, but she must be used to this, and she expertly avoids his teeth and claws. Kappa are clumsy on land, even more so when their head is empty, and he soon stops fighting when she sits on his back and refuses to budge.

“What have I done this time?” the kappa whines, plaintive, making weak attempts at moving, to no avail.

“You have the nerves to ask? That guy is gonna be at the hospital for a while, and he’ll always walk funny from now on.”

She swats his head when her words make him grin.

“It’s not funny, idiot!”

“He had it coming! He’s always drinking around here, throwing his trash into the river, puking everywhere. I didn’t even lure him in. He fell into the water like a dumbass.”

“And so you decided to bite his ass? You’re lucky he didn’t bleed to death!”  
“What do I care for this bastard dying?”

She pinches the bridge of her nose, but her voice is softer when she answers, almost worried.

“Do you want to have the _onmyoji_ on your case, Suigetsu?”

That shuts the kappa up. Karin shuffles to the side so that he can sit up. He straightens his clothes with a grumble, but he doesn’t try to make a run for it.

“They sent you?”

“Shut up. I’m sending myself, since you can’t be trusted to use some common sense. You know we gotta be careful, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The kappa living deep enough into the mountains can still afford to eat a human or two, from time to time, but here in the city, it brings too much attention. 

Though eating the man would have brought less attention than leaving it injured, Sasuke thinks. He doubts the comment will be well-received though, so he keeps it to himself.

**[16.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/629525372835414016/16) **

“Who’re you then?” the kappa, Suigetsu asks him, not feeling overly resentful it seems over almost killing a drunkard by biting his ass.

“He’s an exchange student,” Karin says with a teasing smile. “From Hara mountains.”

“Oh, I have some cousins who live in the Biwa lake.”

There’s a good chance Sasuke met some of them – there are a lot of kappas in the lake and the nearby rivers, as well as other water yokai. Most of them don’t cause too much trouble, they’re just pranksters, though they do indulge in human meat from time to time. The Uchiha tends to the mountain, not the humans, and as long as those are not upset enough that they try to find the cause of those few mysterious disappearances, the clan doesn’t bother with it.

The onmyoji though…

“Are there a lot of them here? Onmyoji?”

Both yokai make a matching grimace of disdain.

“There is a clan,” Karin answer. “It’s not that many of them, so they leave us to sort out most of our issues ourselves. But they’re quite passionate about their job. They can cause trouble.”

Onmyoji normally refers simply to a human with powers coming from the spirit world – ones who earned favors from a yokai, who were cursed, or had their sight open for one reason or another. But when they whisper among themselves about onmyoji, they refer to those who don’t just content themselves with seeing and knowing.

It’s the priests and the exorcists, the hunters even. There are not so many of them left, but they can still be a danger to spirits who are deemed too big of a threat. Of course, onmyoji can’t take on a lot of more powerful yokai, but the ones who mingle with human society have to be wary of their justice.

It makes sense some would be established in Kyoto. It is still unpleasant news.

“You’ll surely meet some of them one way or another. But _you_ better not,” Karin adds, jabbing a finger into Suigetsu’s chest. He bats her away, grumbling, but he will probably heed her warning.

“Damn, I can’t believe you made me come all the way here,” she complains. “Alright, tengu, let’s go.”

When she starts to turn away, the kappa jumps to his feet, though he’s still wobbly.

“Wait! You’re leaving just like that? You didn’t bring me anything?”

“I came to scold you! You think I brought gifts?”

He seems more outraged and hurt by this than by anything she has told him. Sasuke almost feels bad for him, as he shuffles back to the water sadly.

Karin rolls her eyes all the way to the Heavens before grabbing something from her bag. A jar of marinated cucumbers Sasuke saw her preparing the day before.

“Suigetsu!”

She hurls the jar at his head.

It hits him square on the nose and almost falls on the rocky ground, but the kappa is not about to let go of the treat – he catches it in extremis, webbed fingers wrapping possessively around the jar.

He grins, all grievance forgotten.

“Thank you, kitsune! You’re not the worst after all!”

She makes to chase after him, but he disappears back into the river, and no one is a match to a kappa in water. Karin huffs, pulling her glasses up as she does when she’s upset, embarrassed, or annoyed. And a bunch of other times too – it’s a habit, it seems.

“Idiot,” she snarls. Sasuke represses a grin.

They leave the riverbank.

**[17.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/630522044111552512/17) **

They take the way back to the train station – “it will be faster,” Karin says, and Sasuke doesn’t ask why they didn’t ride it to come here then, because Sasuke knows to pick his battle. She deems him suitably punished for his mishap of the previous day, so there is no need to dwell on it.

Just when they’ve crossed the bridge back to the city’s side, she receives a call. Sasuke imagines it’s a question of habit – the foxes are unbothered by the portable phones. They carry them on their person every time they go out like the humans do, while just looking at one gives him a headache. The one landline they have at the temple rarely rings and even more rarely calls. He can’t deny it’s pretty useful though.

“Yeah, what is it? Yeah, we’re heading back now. Again? Don’t you ever have enough? Yeah, yeah, fine, I’ll go. You better have the bath ready when I come back! I know I am. Bye.”

She pockets the phone and her demeanor is different when she turns back to Sasuke. It’s subtle, not so much a physical change as one he can just feel, as some tension and leftover worry leave her body.

“Do you like dango?” she asks him, and doesn’t wait for an answer, strolling toward the many shops and kiosks lining the streets around the bridge. He is starting to dislike being dragged around without having a choice or a thing to say, but then again, what else can he do? He is dependent on the foxes’ hospitality – it’s not like he could roam the city on his own.

Well. He _could._

They stop at a tiny café, with only an elderly woman serving drinks and sweets with shaky hands at the counter, and a child squatting in the back, washing dishes. They sit at one of the few tables outside.

“Naruto wants me to bring him some. They’re his favorite in the whole city.”

She seems in no hurry though, as she orders two tea and two sticks of an-dango for them both – or so he hopes – while asking for a few more to be boxed up for take-out.

Sasuke hears a sound.

He tries to pinpoint when he has heard it before. It’s clear despite the noisy street, a rattle, like someone washing rice or…

Beans. Red azuki beans.

He cranes his neck to peek inside the small shop. Looking more closely, the child is bony and crooked, with big eyes and misaligned teeth, and it’s not a child at all.

It’s an _azukiarai_ , a bean washer, bent over their basket to wash their azuki beans. The sound carries across the shop and into the air around them, but Sasuke supposes the humans can’t really pay attention to it.

He’s seen a few before, but they are known to be shy, solitary creatures, living deep in the mountains and forests where they are rarely heard and even more rarely seen. To find one here, casually washing their beans under a tap is jarring, to say the least.

The old woman goes to the yokai, grabs a handful of beans from the washing basket to prepare more past for the dango. The azukiarai lets her, mouth widening in a toothy smile.

“What… what are they doing here?” Sasuke asks, pointing at the child-yokai. Karin seems completely unbothered by the sight and only shrugs.   
“What do you think? They work here.”

Apparently he is supposed to content himself with that explanation. His discontentment must show on his face - the girl huffs in exasperation.

“The old woman needs help. The bean washer needs beans to wash. It works out.”

The woman is very old indeed, probably with poor eyesight and hearing, and both unbothered by and open to the supernatural, as old people tend to be.   
It does work out.

Sasuke munches on a dango, pensive. It’s true, they are very good, the perfect texture and just enough sweetness. Itachi would love it, Sasuke thinks. He wonders if it’s due to the old woman’s skills or the azukiarai working their will into it. Probably a mix of both. Despite witnessing first-hand the life led by the kitsune here in Kyoto, he had never considered that yokai could be that much… involved in the human words. To the point where they could be dependent on each other. A part of him rebels at the idea, as he can’t imagine what humans could possibly bring him and his family except for troubles and frustration.

But it works out. The azukiarai cranes their neck to grin at Sasuke. Sasuke awkwardly smiles back before biting into his dango.

“Don’t do that again.”

He chokes on a mouthful. Was he not supposed to eat? Karin rolls her eyes. 

“Don’t ask him to change.”

Ah. He supposes that is what she meant to tell him from the start. Naruto and Karin bicker and fight constantly, but she’s furious now on his behalf, that anyone would dare hurt him.

Sasuke finds it endearing. Family ties are something he can relate to and understand. Though he could do without the threatening edge to her voice.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should say that to.”

He huffs. He is well aware of that, but she’s the one who’s here now.

“He can talk as much as he wants, do you hear me? If you don’t like it, just don’t hang out with him.”

“That’s not it!”

He recoils at her scalding look and his own outburst. He doesn’t like to lose his temper, but she’s testing him. 

She sighs, forcefully smoothing down the sharpness of her anger. She could almost pass for sympathetic.

“We don’t have any unfair advantage over you. It wasn’t any easier for us, at the beginning. It was harder even, since we were alone.”

“What about Kushina?”

Karin’s gaze grows distant, lost in some memories not so nice to revisit.

“She didn’t find us right away.”

She doesn’t elaborate and he doesn’t ask despite his curiosity. It’s obviously a sensitive subject and she already said more than he thought he would get from her. 

He can’t deny he finds the foxes’ company tiring, but he’s also aware Naruto is not at fault, nor is she. Sasuke can endure. He can make the effort.

“I’ll do better.”

“Yeah, you do that,” she snarls, but seems to feel a little guilty right after. “Thank you for your help today,” she adds in a mumble.

It’s progress enough for now.

**[18.](https://inrainprose.tumblr.com/post/631854667190697984/18) **

Sasuke is resolved to apologize as soon as he sees the other fox, but Naruto jumps them outside the ryokan without leaving them a chance to get a word in.

“Gaara’s here!” he announces with great excitement. Karin perks up before frowning again.

“That’s why you asked for dango? You should have told me! I would have bought more!”

“I didn’t know he’d show up. It was just a hunch.”

She accepts the explanation and goes in, not without a pointed look toward Sasuke. He manages to snatch Naruto by the back of his t-shirt before he too heads inside.

The boy opens his mouth to greet him but seems to think better of it and keeps silent. Sasuke feels terrible.

“I wanted to apologize. About yesterday. I’m sorry.”

Naruto hesitates again, scratches the back of his head.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have…”

“No,” Sasuke cuts, a little forceful. “You did nothing wrong. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, it was rude and uncalled for. I’m sorry.”

This time the fox seems genuinely speechless, before his face finally breaks back into his usual smile.

“Alright. You’re forgiven then.”

Sasuke is a little caught off guard by the relief that washes over him, settles his agitated nerves. It was weighing on him more than he thought. Naruto grabs his wrist, already moving on.

“Come, come, there is someone you need to meet!”

Kushina and Karin are sitting at the kitchen table with an additional guest. A teenage boy with blood-red hair – it seems to be a theme around here. The kanji for “love” is tattooed on his forehead, but the biggest clue is his eyes – big, clear and watery, and circled with black.

Like a tanuki.

Sasuke looks back at the front door and sure enough, the tea kettle is missing from its perch. Not just any tanuki then, but a _Bunbuku Chagama_.

“Sasuke, this is Gaara. Gaara, Sasuke.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sasuke says, bowing. The tanuki doesn’t answer nor move, he doesn’t even blink. He just stares at him long enough to be awkward, but the foxes don’t seem to find it weird.

They all sit at the table around some tea and the dango they split between themselves. Sasuke and Karin forego their share since they had their fill at the dango shop, and Gaara ends up with the biggest pile. 

He doesn’t say a word. The conversation flows around him as each member of the household talks about their day and he looks at them in turn, attentive but uninvolved. They don’t ask him any question either, and Sasuke follows suit.

When he goes to refill his tea and finds the pot empty, he means to make some more, but the tanuki extends a hand, expectant. Sasuke is quite surprised – he didn’t think he would be granted the honor so soon.

“If you will,” he says, handing his cup over. Gaara takes it with both hands and brings it to his face as if to drink from it, but instead, tea pours out of his mouth, dark and steaming, up to the brim. 

He gives the cup back, his face still set in a blank mask, but if he is offering Sasuke some tea, he must not be as wary as he looks. Sasuke accepts the cup gratefully and wastes no time trying it.

It tastes, as predicted, like the best tea he’s ever had. 

“Thank you,” he says, a little moved by the gesture. The tea kettle is a fixture of the ryokan, it wouldn’t serve just any passing guest. It feels like recognition then, acceptance, all the more precious that the tanuki seems terribly shy and reserved. 

By his side, Naruto is beaming like a fool. Even Kushina looks pleased, while Karin seems reluctantly placated by the display. Conversation resumes after that, until it’s time for dinner.

“Do you want to eat with us, Gaara?”

The boy shakes his head. He looks a little tired, leaning on Naruto’s shoulder. The fox opens his arms and Gaara climbs his laps, nestling into his embrace. He turns back then.

For a brief moment, he does look like a Bunbuku Chagama, furry ears and tails spurting out of the cast iron, before he settles back into a plain tea-kettle, the “love” kanji easily discernable now that Sasuke knows what he’s looking at. Naruto stands carefully and goes to put the chagama back on his watchful perch by the door. 

“He doesn’t come out when there are humans around,” Kushina explains while she starts on dinner.

“They scare him?”

“He wasn’t treated well.”

A human would find an exquisite tea-kettle, known for making the most amazing tea. If they treat it well, the Bunbuku Chagama will provide willingly. But they can also make it work against its will.

A lot of yokai are predators and a threat to humans. But the reverse goes as well. And who can protect them?

“We found him a few years ago. He still doesn’t come out much, but he’s making progress.”

It’s all they can do to look after each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you soon maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
